Breath & Shadow
Winter 2025 - Vol. 22, Issue 1
"The Cacophony of Being"
written by
Elizabeth Devecchi
Night falls banishing the outside noise.
Laughing children sleep
Motors cool
Conversations fade to dreams.
My inner sounds fill the void.
The clicking of my eyelids,
pecking at my brain.
The rush of my breath,
like wind through a cave.
The whooshing of my eyes,
whispers fluttering in the dark.
Silence, an elusive beast.
Each waterfall of spit meets the lump in my throat,
a soft mallet kicked against a bass.
The gurgle of bubbles,
traveling through my gut.
The steady thumping of my heart,
soundtrack of my existence.
An ear against the pillow whips all into a crescendo.
Every note in hi-fi stereo, this concert in my head.
And throughout the show, I am the angry neighbor begging for quiet, please.
A victim of the rude disturbance, in search of silence.
Elizabeth Devecchi spent her formative years in Rhode Island before setting out to gather degrees and experiences. She writes in a variety of genres and styles, but lately has focussed on horror. Her recent releases include: “Oh, Brother,” in Black Spot Books’ women in horror poetry showcase, Under Her Eye (November 2023); “Mother’s Special Bread,” in Nightmare Fueled Inc’s anthology Cooks of Horror (August 2024); “In the Belly of the Mills,” in the anthology Monsters in the Mills (August 2024); tech horror short story “A Corporate Family,” in Rabid Otter Horror anthology, Error Code (November 2024); and “Easy Pickens,” in Wicked House Publishing’s debut anthology, Wicked Universe (December 2024).
Wicked House Publishing released Elizabeth’s debut horror novel, A Whisper in the Dark, in October 2024 and is set to release A Twist of the Lens, in 2025.
Elizabeth currently resides in Colorado with her family, which includes an ever-changing menagerie of pets and “guest creatures.”
Find out more at her website!